I was thinking foam pipe insulation and duct tape would do the trick for less than $5.

That was my first thought too. But I used foam pipe insulation for my homemade dip belt and the chains still dig in my hips.

Personally I would use something a little more stiff for grips because when you squeeze the bar you want as little give as possible, but enough so it's still comfortable for you hands. The point to grips is to keep your hands wide so as to increase forearm and grip strength. Pipe insulation tends to have more give than I would want for this purpose.

That was my first thought too. But I used foam pipe insulation for my homemade dip belt and the chains still dig in my hips.

Personally I would use something a little more stiff for grips because when you squeeze the bar you want as little give as possible, but enough so it's still comfortable for you hands. The point to grips is to keep your hands wide so as to increase forearm and grip strength. Pipe insulation tends to have more give than I would want for this purpose.

Maybe just use lots more duct tape then

Good points though. Maybe there are different levels of density...Surely a Home Depot store would have something that fits the bill cheaply.

They will do very little if you're using them for bench. Pretty much any exercise where you are pushing a bar/db up or above your head is useless for these since you are not relying heavily on a strong grip.

Curls, deadlifts, rows, front/side should raise, etc...they will f*ck you up. They are expensive but they will destroy your forearms/wrists.

These things are also really durable. My friend has these and they will last a long long time, unless you lose them!

Actually, many people find that using them for pressing movements is helpful for shoulder health. I myself have used them for pressing and like the feeling of the movement better than when pressing with the smaller diameter bar.

The only thing I worry about these are that it will not target the actual muscle you intend. Say you're doing a db curl which you can normally do 7 reps at 45lbs. You throw these fat grips on and now you can only do 4 reps...not because your bicep is spent...because your grip is too weak to hold the 45lbs any longer.

I suppose these would best be used simply for forearm/wrist strength training. Maybe only use them once or twice per workout. Thats the only reason Ive never purchased them. I dont think I would use them enough for the price.

Quote
from Dragoon12369
:

Bought these for 45 a long time ago and i never use them. Unless you really grip the bar, you arent gonna feel anything but weak. I usually curl 45s and with these on i can only curl 25s

I don't see the point then. Wouldn't more reps/weight without these also achieve forearm/grip improvement (especially for deadlift), without costing $35?

Thick-bar training is a proven technique utilized by novices, intermediates, and advanced lifters alike. These aren't meant to spare you callouses or arbitrarily make shit harder. They are for grip training.

Buying a set of thick-grip dumbbells for the same effect costs thousands of dollars and 99% of gyms won't have them, and a thick-grip barbell is easily $300 minimum. These are pretty easy to slip on the bar (or dumbbell) to achieve the exact same thing. They are also gonna last forever.

Yeah you can just wrap a towel around the bar (I've done this) or make your own shit out of foam (haven't tried) ... but newsflash, you can also wash your dick with sandpaper if you want. I've had these for at least 2 years and while I don't use them all the time they were worth it for the one-time cost. For the amount of money people waste on supplements and other shit when they have no clue what they're doing, this is a drop in the bucket.

Do farmer's walks with them and you will destroy your forearms and really shore up your grip strength, which has benefits to almost every other aspect of lifting. They make deadlifts significantly harder because it emphasizes most people's weakness, which is grip giving out before your other, stronger muscles. You wouldn't train with them every single time, but you can use them to complement your normal training and bring your grip up to snuff so you can pull more weight without them.

This Thread is more than 779 days old. It is very likely that it does not need any further discussion and thus bumping it serves no purpose.If you still feel it is necessary to make a new reply you may do so.
I am aware that this Thread is rather old but I still want to make a reply.

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